Our client, a Vashon Island man who was exposed to asbestos, has been awarded $1.45 million after a jury ruled that his former bosses were to blame for exposing him to asbestos.

It was 45 years ago that Roger Hammett worked as a messman aboard the SS Seattle.

During his 67-day stint on the ship, Hammett breathed in asbestos fibers from pipe insulation. More than 40 years later, that exposure led to him developing mesothelioma, a rare cancer in the lining of protective tissue around the lungs.

Three years ago, the 84-year-old first experienced bouts of what he thought was asthma. The issues got worse, and last year Hammett collapsed while working in his garden.

“I was out in my garden working and fell over, couldn’t breathe, and I crawled up on a pile of dirt and I pulled myself up,” he said.

After getting his grim diagnoses, Hammett was in pain and had trouble sleeping. Instead of staying quiet about his illness, Hammett decided he wanted justice.

He sued his former employers, and after a week-long trial that ended Thursday, he was awarded $1.45 million.

Hammett’s attorney, Matt Bergman, Founding Partner of Bergman Draper Ladenburg, said his client’s case was rare.

“This was the first case of such a short period of exposure that went to trial, at least in the Puget Sound area,” he said.

It’s a bittersweet victory for a man who was told he only has another year to live.

“I will say it’s a psychological disaster to know that you have something that can’t be operated on, there’s no cure and you are going to die someday,” said Hammett.

For now he’ll enjoy moments in his garden with his wife, Anita, knowing he won the biggest legal battle of his life.

To view the video on KomoNews.com click on this link or copy this url to your web browser: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Vashon-man-exposed-to-asbestos-awarded-145-mil-135771633.html

As of January 1st, 2012, our firm name Bergman Draper & Frockt will be changing to Bergman Draper Ladenburg.

Glenn Draper, Managing Partner of Bergman Draper & Frockt was one of the main speakers at the Plaintiff’s Personal Injury from Start to Finish Seminar in Olympia & Seattle, WA December 16th & 17th, 2010. The seminar brought together plaintiff personal injury attorneys, paralegals, and other practitioners to provide leading edge practical strategies for handling personal injury cases. Here is a short summary of issues Mr. Draper and other speakers concentrated on:

1. Statutes which affect liability evaluation
2. Understanding the law of damages
3. Basics of civil practice and procedure
4. Ethical considerations for the plaintiff’s attorney
5. Personal injury settlements
6. Trial of the plaintiff’s personal injury case

Mr. Draper is highly sought after attorney to speak in many areas of Asbestos & Personal Injury Litigation and has provided his expert knowledge at other conferences and speaking engagements.

Matthew Bergman, a Partner of Bergman Draper & Frockt was one of the main speakers at the Annual International Asbestos Litigation Conference held in London, England on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 and Thursday, September 30, 2010. This conference brings together numerous professionals from around the world to discuss and analyze various changes affecting international asbestos litigation.

Mr. Bergman is a highly sought after attorney to speak in many areas of Asbestos Litigation and has provided his expertise knowledge at other conferences and speaking engagements. Among an extensive list of subjects the conference addressed, here is a short summary of issues Mr. Bergman and other speakers concentrated on:

1. How the insurance and reinsurance industry is responding to asbestos related claims
2. The latest thinking on the link between asbestos exposure and lung cancer cases
3. The medical perspective on diagnostic problems in malignant mesothelioma
4. Update on the latest legal and insurance developments affecting the major asbestos jurisdictions
5. Whether a second wave of asbestos bankruptcies is coming

Bergman Draper & Frockt, PLLC secured a major precedent-setting victory on February 7, 2008 for our clients when the Washington Supreme Court issued its opinion in Sales v. Weyerhaeuser Company, 163 Wn.2d 14, 117 P.3d 1122 (2008). Our client, Mr. Charles Sales, an Arkansas resident, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005 at the age of 20, caused by exposure to asbestos from his father, who unwittingly brought asbestos dust into the family home from his work at a Weyerhaeuser mill between 1972 and 1992. After Mr. Sales sued Weyerhaeuser, a Washington corporation, in Pierce County in 2006, the trial court dismissed the action under the doctrine of forum non conveniens—basically ruling that the claim had to be brought in Arkansas, where Sales lived and was exposed, and not in Washington, where Weyerhauser “lives’ as a Washington state corporation with its world headquarters in Washington state.

On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed that trial court dismissal, and held that the trial court erred in not conditioning its dismissal from Washington on Weyerhaeuser’s stipulation to try the case in Arkansas state court (thereby agreeing not to remove it to federal court, where it likely would have faced long delays.) The Washington Supreme Court held that the trial court had abused its discretion in refusing to consider the practical effect of the inevitable delays that would likely ensue should the case go through the federal court’s asbestos claims process. The case is a significant victory for not only Mr. Sales, but for many of our clients, insofar as it enables our clients to seek and obtain their day in court with much greater speed than has been possible in the federal court system in place for handling asbestos case for decades. This decision effectively shut down corporate defendants’ practice of “forum shopping” for the best court to resolve cases on their terms, and forced many companies to defend and resolve cases in Washington state courts, which have historically afforded asbestos victims a more level playing field and a more realistic opportunity for early and fair resolution of their claims without the unnecessary expense and delay of litigating claims in the federal courts. The terms of that settlement are confidential.

In Taylor v. Union Carbide Corporation, 147 Wn. App. 1017, 2008 WL 4788245, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court committed legal error in granting summary judgment to asbestos miner and manufacturer Union Carbide Corporation. Union Carbide argue that because it supplied asbestos to drywall joint compound manufacturers who also bought asbestos from other suppliers, Union Carbide could not be liable to the Taylors. The trial court agreed and dismissed the case.

Bergman Draper & Frockt appealed that ruling, and prevailed on appeal November 4, 2008. The Court of Appeals found that there was sufficient evidence that Mr. David Taylor had been exposed to Union Carbide’s asbestos fibers when he worked with and around Hamilton and Georgia Pacific joint compounds at his work sites in Tacoma in 1972 and 1973. The Court rejected Union Carbide’s argument that Mr. Taylor would have to prove that Union Carbide was the “exclusive” supplier of asbestos fiber to prevail on his claims, and instead allowed the case to proceed to a jury trial even if Union Carbide was one of many different manufacturers who supplied toxic asbestos to other companies for incorporation into their products. Jury selection in the trial against Union Carbide and two other defendants begins in December of 2010 in Pierce County.

Bergman Draper & Frockt has an impressive track record of victories in the appellate courts in Washington. On August 31, 2010, the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division Two, ruled that Lockheed Shipbuilding Company in Seattle had a duty to protect workers at its shipyard from asbestos hazards, including employees of contractors working at Lockheed who were not Lockheed employees. The Court reversed the trial court’s prior ruling to the contrary, and reinstated the case for trial. (Arnold v. Saberhagen Holdings, Inc., et al., 157 Wn. App. 649, 2010 WL 3410720.)

After considering extensive evidence garnered through considerable investigation by Bergman, Draper & Frockt attorneys, the Court of Appeals held that a genuine trial issue existed as to whether Lockheed failed to ensure a safe workplace when Mr. Arnold worked for an insulation subcontractor and sustained significant asbestos exposure at the Lockheed Shipyard in Seattle in 1962 and 1963, and 1967-1969. As a result of this ruling, the Arnold family retains viable claims against Lockheed for the untimely deaths from mesothelioma of both Reuben and his son, Daniel, who as a child had been exposed to asbestos brought home on his father’s work clothes. Both Reuban and Daniel developed mesothelioma as a result of their asbestos exposure, and both passed away from this disease within 15 months of one another.

The opinion also establishes that Lockheed acted as a general contractor. Under Washington law, general contractors with supervisory and coordinating authority in common work areas are responsible for the job safety of all workers, including the employees of subcontractors like Mr. Arnold. In rejecting Lockheed’s claim that it did not act as a general contractor, the Court established important precedent for potential future victims of shipyard and industrial exposure to asbestos at large, industrial multi-employer jobsites in Washington. In addition to assisting the Arnold family, the opinion will assist other families whose loved ones are harmed or killed by asbestos at area shipyards and similarly-situated premises with high exposures.

Ben Couture knew from the get-go he’d rather represent David than Goliath. “I am not the corporate type,” he explains. “I like fighting for the little guy, and I don’t want to spend all of my time in a boardroom. Mostly, I love working in the courtroom, making the strongest possible argument for my client.”

Clients too Ill to Fight
Couture’s clients need a good fighter who’s well-prepared and who can work under pressure. Many of the people he represents are going up against large, well-funded corporations—and they don’t have much time. They have been diagnosed with an asbestos related illness and some of them only have months to live.

“Working with asbestos victims is a very sobering job,” Couture says. “Those who have been exposed to asbestos are usually working people who may never have needed a lawyer before. They are not only coping with major medical issues, but they are facing a very personal tragedy, which is usually compounded by significant financial loss. One of the most satisfying yet difficult aspects of my work is the personal connection I develop with my clients during such a stressful time.”

Working with the Right Team
When Couture graduated from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in 2003, he knew he wanted to devote his career to representing asbestos victims. After working for several years at a premier plaintiffs’ firm in Texas, he took a position at one of the nation’s leading asbestos law firms, Bergman Draper &. Frockt, located in Seattle.

“We have eight lawyers and more than 60 years of collective experience litigating asbestos cases,” says Couture. “That’s all we do. We are a firm of attorneys devoted to providing our clients with responsive, thoughtful and aggressive representation.”

The firm has developed exceptional knowledge of the specific medical issues that arise in asbestos cases, the companies that manufactured and used asbestos products, the legal theories of liability, the defenses that companies assert to avoid responsibility, and the national trends in asbestos litigation. The firm has won tens of millions of dollars for clients, including a $30 million asbestos settlement with the Halliburton Corporation, believed to be the largest settlement of its kind in the Northwest.

Bergman Draper & Frockt attorney and former Washington State Senator Brian Weinstein lectured last week in Dallas, Texas on the issue of which types of asbestos cause mesothelioma, a fatal cancer nearly always caused by exposure to the dangerous substance. Mr. Weinstein made the presentation to a group of attorneys gathered in Dallas to share information concerning the representation of clients suffering from mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos. Mr. Weinstein has long been recognized as a forerunner in the field of asbestos and mesothelioma litigation, first representing workers suffering from asbestos-related disease back in 1981. Well known in Washington State asbestos litigation, Mr. Weinstein has successfully tried numerous asbestos cases to verdict around the country and has an equally impressive track record handling asbestos and mesothelioma cases on appeal.

Last week, Mr. Weinstein discussed evidence refuting the claim by asbestos manufacturers that some types of asbestos do not cause mesothelioma. In particular, manufacturers of products containing chrysotile asbestos often claim that their asbestos products did not cause mesothelioma, despite the view of numerous U.S. federal agencies and distinguished groups of U.S. and world scientists that exposure to chrysotile asbestos does indeed cause mesothelioma. Chrysotile asbestos is a form of the mineral found in abundant supply in the Quebec region of Canada, where the carcinogenic substance has been mined for decades. In support of their position, the chrysotile asbestos manufacturers often rely on research by A.C. And J.D. McDonald, research that was conducted in Canada and funded by the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association. In his presentation, Mr. Weinstein outlined the evidence establishing central flaws in the McDonald studies, which were obviously intended to deflect criticism from the chrysotile asbestos mining industry operating in Canada. Lawyers from across the country were present to hear Mr. Weinstein’s lecture.

SEATTLE, WA – Working on behalf of the world’s orphaned and most destitute children, All As One joined forces with international film star and Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Glover, on Saturday, October 24, 2009, for a special event that drew attention to the dramatic needs in war-ravaged Sierra Leone. The event included prominent community business leaders and supporters from around the world in a celebration of the culture of Sierra Leone. The event was hosted by former NBA All-Star and humanitarian, James Donaldson and Suzie Burke, visionary community leader and philanthropist.

Established in 1997, All As One is an international child welfare non-profit organization with U.S. headquarters in Spanaway, Washington, dedicated to providing the orphaned and destitute children of Sierra Leone with a loving home, education, medical care, and a chance for a better future. All As One provides support through an orphanage, school and clinic in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. Ranked as the world’s least developed country in the world (of 179 countries) by the United Nations, in an index comparing poverty, life expectancy, literacy, and education, among other factors, Sierra Leone faces the world’s highest infant mortality and maternal mortality rates. 64% of the population does not have access to medical care. War and the subsequent return of refugees have also put enormous economic strain on the country.